 Nairobi, 10 Nov (Prensa Latina )The Kenyan government will repatriate 1 million Somali refugees living in refugee camps in the northern region under a tripartite agreement to be inked in Nairobi on Sunday.
Deputy President William Ruto said in a statement on Saturday that the East African nation had borne the brunt of terrorism and welcomed Ethiopia''s decision to join Africa Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in order to fight terrorism.
"As part of a campaign to eliminate the threat of terror, an estimated 1 million Somali refugees would be repatriated under an agreement to be signed in Nairobi on Sunday," Ruto said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
"Recently we had a terror attack ... and we welcome every effort to fight terror," said Ruto citing the recent terror attack on the Westgate shopping mall in which at least 67 people were killed and 175 others wounded.
Kenya hosts an estimated 650,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Somali refugees in Kenya are estimated at 500,000 and the number has increased due to turmoil and recurrent droughts in the Horn of Africa state.
The country been torn asunder by factional fighting since 1991 but has recently made progress in stability.
The conflict has left some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and over 1 million more living in exile in neighboring countries, mostly in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.
Ruto said the repatriation program is being undertaken by the Kenyan and Somali governments together with the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
During the meeting, he said Ethiopian troops will join AMISOM as part of renewed efforts to combat terrorism in the Horn of Africa region.
Kenya has reiterated its strong commitment to continue working with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union, the United Nations and the rest of the international community to protect the hard-won gains towards peace and security for the people of Somalia and the region.
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